2026 Yang ICoN Center Symposium: Self-Organization and Emergence in Development

• Date: Thursday, May 21, 2026
• Time: 8:45am - 5:00pm with poster session & reception to follow 
• Location: Singleton Auditorium (46-3002, Third Floor of MIT Building 46) This is an in-person event 
• Event is free and open to the public 
• Registration is required. Register by Wednesday, May 13 
• Poster Session Info: When you register, please indicate if you would like to be considered for the poster session. Submission of a poster title does not guarantee selection. Deadline for submitting poster information for consideration is Friday, May 1

Symposium Overview

This event brings together leading researchers to explore how neural structure and function emerge during development. Speakers will discuss key theoretical and empirical challenges in explaining how complex neural systems arise across molecular, cellular, and circuit levels.

The K. Lisa Yang Integrative Computational Neuroscience (ICoN) Center at MIT pioneers computational models of brain function that unify multiple levels of biological data, from molecules to circuits to behavior. The center is part of the Yang Tan Collective, a multi-university effort dedicated to accelerating collaborations in basic science, research, and engineering to improve human health and well-being at a global scale. Learn more about the Collective at yangtan.mit.edu.

Symposium Agenda: 

8:30 AM – Check-in Opens 

8:45 AM – Welcome & Introduction from Ila Fiete, MIT

Session 1: Genetic Programs for Neural Circuit Assembly

9:00 AM – Fenna Krienen, Princeton University
Spatially-resolved genetic programs in primate brains
9:50 AM – Yerbol Kurmangaliyev, Brandeis University
How are neural circuits encoded in the genome?

10:40 AM – Morning Break

Session 2: Self-Organization in Brain Development

10:55  AM – Paola Arlotta, Harvard University
Building complexity in brain organoids takes time and (self)-organization
11:45 AM – P. Robin Hiesinger, Freie Universitat Berlin
Self-Organization in Fly Brain Development

12:35 PM – Lunch Break

Session 3: Emergence of Large-Scale Neural Architecture

1:20 PM – Gordon Smith, University of Minnesota
Common principles underlying the development of large-scale cortical networks
2:10 PM – Matthias Kaschube, FIAS Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies
The emergence of functional modular networks in cortical development

3:00 PM – Afternoon Break

Session 4: Robustness and Geometry in Biological Systems

3:15 PM – Stanislav Shvartsman, Princeton University
A class of natural tessellation algorithms
4:05 PM – Brady Weissbourd, MIT
Mechanisms of robustness in jellyfish neural networks

4:55 PM – Closing Remarks

5:00 PM – Poster session & Networking Reception